Eating and Fasting for God in Sufi Tradi

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Journal of the American Academy of Religion LXIII/3

Eating and Fasting for God

in Sufi TraditionValerie J. Hoffman

EATING AND DRINKING IN THE QUR'AN AND HADITH

ALTHOUGH THE QUR'AN contains few food laws and prohibi

tions, eating and drinking are mentioned with remarkable frequency in the Muslims' sacred scripture. A prominent theme ofthe Qur'an is that God's goodness is evident through His provisionfor humanity, that the various ways that God provides sustenancefor people and animals are "signs" of His existence that shouldcause the thoughtful person to believe in Him and be grateful. People are repeatedly urged in the Qur'an to consider how God hasprovided them with animals (5:4, 16:5, 22:28, 22:36, 23:21, 36:72-3, 40:79), fruits (23:19, 36:34-5), grains (10:24, 32:27, 36:33), and

even mastery over the seas (16:14, 35:12) and encourages themrepeatedly to eat and drink of the good things God has providedfor them (2:168, 2:172, 5:88, 16:114, 20:81). Although a few of thefood prohibitions of the Jews are retained in Islam—the eating ofpork, carrion, blood, or any animal not slaughtered in the name ofGod (5:3, 3:173, 6:121)-the Jews are criticized for imposing excessive restrictions on themselves even before the revelation of Mosaiclaw (3:93), a possible reference to the custom of not eating thighmeat around the hip socket (Gen. 32:32). The Qur'an says all the

food of the Jews and Christians is lawful to the Muslims, as is thefood of the Muslims lawful to them (5:5). Gratitude (shukr) to Godfor His provision is one of the main characteristics of the faithful,while unbelievers are characterized, in the typical Qur'anic literarystyle of assonance and antithetic parallelism, by ingratitude (kufr).

Nonetheless, this encouragement to eat should not be taken toexcess (7:31), and during the month of Ramadan a fast from food,drink and sexual intercourse was commanded during the daylight

Valerie J. Hoffman is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Illinois at


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466 Journal of the American Academy of Religion

hours. By custom, this fast is broken at sunset with nightly feasting and ritual food offerings to the poor; mosques become placesof charity, feeding, and eating. The wanton pursuit of the

pleasures of eating is one of the marks of the heedless unbelievers,who "eat like cattle" (15:3, 47:12, 77:46) and will be shocked whenthe judgment of God suddenly breaks out upon them.

Those who believe in God are also described as those who feedthe poor and encourage others to do so as well (22:28, 22:36, 76:8,89:18), while those whose end is hellfire are those who fail to dothis (69:33-4, 107:3). Echoing Luke 12:16-21, the Qur'an tells stories of the folly of owners of vineyards who take pride in theirwealth, have no consideration of God, and conspire to keep theirgoods for themselves and not share them with the poor (18:32-44,68:17-33). Modern advocates of "Islamic economics" have concluded that the Qur'an forbids the "hoarding" of wealth, andrequires that any surplus be shared. According to the Qur'an,wrongdoers not only indulge in gluttony, but are said to "eat" (i.e.,consume) wealth in a wrongful manner (2:188, 3:130, 4:2, 4:29,9:34, 89:19). An integral part of the message of all the prophets inthe Qur'an is an exhortation to be grateful for God's provision ofsustenance, and to share a portion of it with the needy. Those whoquestion why they should feed the poor when God would have provided them sustenance if He had so desired are castigated as deviating from the straight path (36:47). Feeding a poor person is someritorious that it can be used as expiation for failure to observethe fast of Ramadan or for breaking the taboo on hunting duringthe pilgrimage (2:184, 5:95).

Watt has speculated that the heavy emphasis of the Qur'anicmessage on the necessity of feeding the poor derived from Muham

mad's concern with the breakdown of nomadic values, whichimposed corporate responsibility for the care of the poor, weak anddefenseless, in the new and prosperous mercantile center in whichhe lived. If Watt is right, Muhammad was preaching a socialistmessage in a newly capitalistic environment, but far from being arevolutionary, he was trying to revive traditional values of corporate responsibility and hospitality that were still recognized butoften neglected.

Undoubtedly another consideration lay in the prominence

given to God as provider. Humans fail to recognize God's sovereignty over their affairs, according to the Qur'an. They congratu


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Hoffman: Eating and Fasting for God in Sufi Tradition 467

sustenance is God's provision. The requirement to be generouswith that sustenance is undoubtedly at least partly to force peopleto recognize God's sovereignty and generosity; human gratitude

entails human generosity in turn.The Qur'anic preoccupation with food and feeding goes beyond

discussions of human sustenance and charity. Images of food anddrink appear prominently in Qur'anic descriptions of the Gardenof Paradise and of Hellfire. The believers who are rewarded in theGarden eat abundant fruit and are served non-intoxicating drinks(43:73). They drink from rivers of water, rivers of milk that doesnot go sour, delicious wine, and clarified honey (47:15). On theother hand, those who conceal God's revealed truth or treat itlightly, trying to derive some financial gain from it, "eat nothingbut fire into their bellies" (2:174). The wrongdoers in Hellfire haveonly filth (69:36) and thorns (88:6) and food that chokes (73:13).They fill their bellies from the tree of Zaqqüm, which grows in thebottom of hell and produces fruit like the heads of demons (37:62-66). They drink boiling water, which tears apart their bowels(37:67, 47:15).

Hadïth literature, which records reports concerning all that

Muhammad said and did, in implausibly minute detail, recordswhat various Companions of the Prophet saw him eat on variousoccasions, and what his favorite dish was. The overall attitude ofHadïth is that the Muslims should be neither too worldly nor tooother-worldly: they should take, in the words of one hadïth, fromboth this world and the next. To a group of three men who wereunimpressed with Muhammad's spiritual observances—oneabstained from sleep in order to pray, the second fasted continuously, and the third remained celibate—Muhammad issued this

rebuke: "I dread God more than you and revere him more, but Ifast and I break the fast; I pray and I sleep too, and I marry women.Whosoever turns away from my practice [sunna] is none of mine"(Williams: 61-62). In another hadïth, Muhammad says that thebest fast is one that is regularly broken, so that the body wouldneither suffer ill-health nor become so accustomed to fasting that itno longer feels hunger.

Other traditions depict Muhammad as enduring such hunger,even at the height of his success as a commander, that he tied a

stone against his stomach. In the Qur'an itself there are indications that Muhammad was criticized by his contemporaries for eati d i ki d lki i th k t lik di


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More spectacular feats were apparently expected of someone making a prophetic claim: perhaps eating special heavenly foods, flyingthrough the air, or having an angel accompany him (23:33, 25:7).

The Qur'an assures its listeners that other prophets also ate ordinary food (25:20). It is ironic, therefore, that other traditionsdeveloped depicting Muhammad as engaging in continuous fasts,fasts that his Companions were unable to imitate. When theyspoke of their impotence to Muhammad, he replied, "I am not likeone of you. I spend the night with my Lord, and He gives me foodand drink." Sufi tradition interpreted this to mean that he wasgiven the food and drink of the people of Paradise. The legends ofMuhammad's Ascension through the seven heavens to an audience

before the Throne of God include his being offered a choice ofwine, milk, or honey (Jeffery: 38). His choice of milk is commended by the angel Gabriel, who tells him that this milk symbolizes the disposition (fitra) of his community, who are described inthe Qur'an as "in the middle," or "well-balanced" (2:143). Islam isdescribed in the Qur'an as the religion of innate human nature(30:30), which is somehow symbolized in this story by milk.

There is one other legend about the Prophet with interesting

food imagery. According to Ibn Sa'd, author of an early biographical dictionary, the Angel Gabriel gave the Prophet a heavenly morsel which granted him the sexual potency of forty men, enablinghim to satisfy all of his wives (perhaps as many as twelve women)in a single night (VIII: 139). While contemporary Muslims are usually embarrassed by such stories, and dismiss them as foolishfabrications of a superstitious community that wrongly regardedMuhammad as "superlative in everything, including the lusts ofthis world" (Haykal: 289), some Sufis see this story as evidence of

Muhammad's superior spiritual strength, for the truly spiritual person is able to have complete mastery over the body, and can eitherprolong sexual arousal at will or entirely eliminate it. But as wewill see, in Sufi tradition it is not only heavenly morsels that arousesexual desire, for the consumption of any food to the point of satiation is linked to the arousal of passions. Perhaps what distinguishes this heavenly morsel from ordinary food is not only that itproduced an ability to sustain arousal for a superhuman duration,but that it was able to do so when consumed in such minute

quantity.


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ATTITUDES TOWARD FOOD IN SUFI TRADITION

Sufism began as a pious reaction against the growing worldli-

ness of Muslims in the second half of the seventh century C.E.,accompanied by an avoidance of government officials and richpeople, who were likely to be corrupted by their power and wealth.It had its antecedents in people like Abu Dharr al-Ghiffari andSalman al-Fàrisï in the days of the Prophet, who belonged to agroup known as ahi al-suffa, "people of the bench," for their habitof remaining in the mosque and spending their days and nights inpious devotions. They embraced a lifestyle of poverty and abstinence from fleshly pleasures, and Abu Dharr was banned from

Medina during the Caliphate of 'Uthmän (644-56) for his advocacyof a doctrine that denied the sincerity of the faith of any Muslimwho possessed houses, fields, or gold. Sufism developed into afull-fledged mysticism in the late eighth and early ninth centuries,but the asceticism of the early Sufis remained an integral part ofSufi life.

After the initial confession of sin and repentance from all deedsthat would compromise the journey to God, the Sufi's major preoccupation is with crushing one's passions, fighting, as the Sufis say,

against one's own soul. According to Hadïth, the Prophet said,"We have returned from the lesser jihad (warfare) to the greater jihad." This "greater jihad" is the struggle to purify the soul of allforms of evil and negligence, for, in the words of one modern Sufi,"it is the soul that veils us from the vision of the truth and incitesus to acts of disobedience and attachment to lust and materialthings. By such things we become heavy and cannot enter theworld of the spirit to see the beauty and light of the Truth" (Mâhir:23). Sufis believe that the spirit's origin is divine, and by its very

nature yearns to return to its heavenly home; but the soul is ofearthly origin, and pulls the spirit back to earth.A time-honored method of training the soul is to resist its

desires through fasting and other forms of asceticism. The earliestSufis practiced almost incredible feats of self-denial, shunning allforms of luxury, eating the barest minimum necessary to keepalive, avoiding sleep (a mark of "heedlessness"), and spending theirnights in devotion and self-examination. Hasan al-Basrï (d. 728),one of the most famous of the stern early ascetics, likened the

world to a snake, "smooth to the touch, but its venom kills" (Williams: 111). Another famous representative of early Sufism,


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hardship, self-abasement, strenuous effort, sleeplessness, and poverty, ever anticipating death and judgment, in order to attain righteousness (Qushayrï n.d.:13). Early Sufis embraced poverty to such

an extent that "the poor man" (faqìr in Arabic, darwïsh in Persian)became synonomous with the Sufi, and the term remains in usetoday. When Abu Yazïd al-Bistâmï (d. 874), famous for travelingthe heights of mystical knowledge, was asked how he had reachedsuch heights, he replied, "With a hungry stomach and a nakedbody" (Qushayrï n.d.: 23). Abu Hamid al-Ghazâlï (d. 1111), whoadvocated moderation and practicality in religious practices andhelped to bring Sufism into the mainstream of Islamic spirituality,nonetheless insisted that the way to travel on the path of God is

through fasting, night vigils, sleeplessness, and renunciation ofwealth (Smith: 93-4).

The spiritual benefits of fasting are numerous. One is the humbling effect of hunger. In one anecdote of Abu Yazïd al-Bistâmï, hewas asked why he praised hunger so highly. He replied, "Becauseif Pharaoh (the epitome of arrogant pride in the Qur'an) had beenhungry, he would not have said, Ί am your Supreme Lord' (Qur'an79:24), and if Korah (Qur'an 28:7682) had been hungry, he wouldnot have been rebellious" (Hujwïrï: 347-8).

Fasting is described as the major tool believers have againstSatan, for, according to a hadïth, "Satan runs in the veins of thechildren of Adam; narrow his passage by hunger." One early Sufisaid, "Satan is terrified of the shadow of one who conquers thepassions of the world" (Qushayrï 1990: 82). Ghazâlï clarifies thatit is when we eat that Satan enters our bloodstream—a perspectivethat is given more credibility when we consider the fact that it wasby persuading Adam and Eve to eat that Satan caused their expul

sion from Paradise. Fasting, therefore, is "a fortress and a paradise" for the "friends of God," who has granted them this methodto repel the guile and trickery of Satan (1:303-4). Abu ΊNajïb al-Suhrawardï (d. 1168), author of a popular handbook on Sufi etiquette, reports that "the Prophet rebuked a man who burped in hispresence, saying: Those of you who are the most sated in thisworld will be the most hungry on the day of resurrection"(Suhrawardï: 59). Hujwïrï (d. ca. 1071), author of the first Persianmanual on Sufism, says that Sahl al-Tustari (d. 896) regarded eat

ing to the point of satiation as so dangerous that he said, "In my judgment, a belly full of wine [which is categorically prohibited inI l ] i b tt th f ll f l f l f d " Wh k d t


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explain his statement, he replied, "When a man's belly is filledwith wine, his intellect is stupefied and the flame of lust isquenched, and people are secure from his hand and tongue; but

when his belly is filled with lawful food he desires foolishness, andhis lust waxes great and his lower soul rises to seek her pleasures."

The connection between eating and sexual desire is such thatin a hadïth the Prophet recommends fasting for those who areunable to marry, for "fasting is a form of castration" (Ghazâlï,11:28). Hujwïrï comments, "Nothing is more hurtful to a novice inSufism than eating too much" (Hujwïrï: 347-8). Sahl al-Tustari isalso quoted as saying, "When God most High created the world,He placed sin and ignorance within satisfaction of the appetite andknowledge and wisdom within hunger." Qushayrï (d. 1072),author of one of the most widely-used manuals on Sufism inArabic, comments, "When Sahl b. 'Abdallah hungered, he was powerful, and whenever he ate, he became weak" (Qushayrï 1990: 80-81). Qushayrï also quotes Yahyä b. Mu'ädh as saying, "Hunger is alight, and filling one's stomach is a fire. Passion is like firewoodfrom which fire arises, never to subside until it consumes itsowner" (Qushayrï 1990: 81).

We get a glimpse of the severity of fasting practiced by earlySufis in a saying of Abu 'Uthmän al-Maghribï: "The one devoted tothe Lord eats only every forty days, and the one devoted to theEternal eats only every eighty days." Another Sufi commented, "Ifthe Sufi says after five days (of fasting), Ί am hungry,' then sendhim to the marketplace to earn something" (Qushayrï 1990: 81-2)—that is, he is unworthy to live the Sufi life. Sahl al-Tustarï wasasked, "What do you say of the man who eats once a day?" Hereplied, "It is the eating of the believers"—that is, of the average

faithful but non-Sufi Muslim. "And three times a day?" Heretorted, "Tell your people to build you a trough!" (Qushayrï 1990:81).

One benefit of fasting is that it produces patience. Ghazähpieces together two hadïths, one that says fasting is half ofpatience, and the other that patience is half of faith, to concludethat one-quarter of the practice of faith in God is fasting (1:303).Eventually, however, the mystic who has succeeded in annihilatinghis soul in God may reach a point where, like the Prophet, his

worship becomes his food and drink (Hujwïrï: 303), or, asRüzbihän Baqlï (d. 1209) said concerning a saint who fasted in

t l ti f t d "I thi t t f d t hi


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from the word Ί stay with my Lord who feeds me and gives me todrink' (Qur'an 26:79)" (Schimmel: 116).

Another aspect of the preference for fasting among early Sufis

was the cultivation of an attitude of absolute dependence on Godto provide for all one's needs (fawafefeu/), avoiding asking for provi-sion from others or working for a living or worrying about whereone's food would come from. This attitude is reflected in the

words of Hujwïrï's shaykh: "I am astonished at the imposter whodeclares that he has renounced the world, and is anxious about amorsel of food" (Hujwïrï: 348). Connected with this dependenceon God alone to provide for one's needs is a deep suspicion thatfood given by other people could be "doubtful," that is, obtained

through possibly illicit means or paid for with money earned in adubious fashion. Suhrawardï wrote, "Sufis eat only food whosesource they know" (58). In this connection there is an interestingstory told by the Persian Sufi writer Farïd al-Dïn 'Attär (d. 1220)about the famous early woman Sufi, Räbi'a al-'Adawiyya (d. 801).

One day Räbi'a's servant girl was making an onion stew; for itwas some days since they had cooked any food. Finding that sheneeded some onions, she said, "I will ask of next door."

"Forty years now," Räbi'a replied, "I have had a covenant with

Almighty God not to ask for aught of any but He. Never mind theonions."

Immediately a bird swooped down from the air with peeledonions in its beak and dropped them into the pan.

"I am not sure this is not a trick," Räbi'a commented. And sheleft the onion pulp alone, and ate nothing but bread (Attar: 44).

This story suggests the extraordinary wariness of early Sufisregarding the provenance of their food. Hujwïrï and Ghazâlï cau

tioned that a Sufi should never accept the food of a rich man(Hujwïrï: 349; Ghazâlï, 11:16-17, 18-19). A twentieth-century Sufiin Egypt, Muhammad Ahmad Radwän, reflected this early attitudewhen he refused to go to the homes of government officials anddeclined to accept invitations to eat, cautioning that "most foodthese days is doubtful" (Radwän: 104).

It is not just the quantity of food, but the type of food thataffects spiritual well-being. One of the expected charismata of thesaint, or friend of God, was the ability to tame wild animals and be

on friendly terms with them. In effect, the friend of God regainsthe dominion over the animal kingdom for which humanity wascreated when God made Adam His "viceroy" on earth (Qur'an


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2:30). In one of 'Attar's several anecdotes depicting Räbi'a al-'Adawiyya besting Hasan al-Basrï in sanctity, wisdom, and miracles, Hasan is frustrated that as Räbi'a walks in the mountains sheis surrounded by flocks of deer, mountain goats, ibexes and wildasses, but when he approaches they flee. Räbi'a asks what he haseaten that day. On hearing that he had eaten "a little onion pulp,"she retorts, "You eat their fat. Why then should they not flee fromyou?" (Attar: 44-5). Presumably it is not the onion that is problematic, but the fat in which it is fried.

The Sufi master Ibn al-'Arabi (d. 1240), in a manual on Sufiretreat, cautions, "Be careful of your diet. It is better if your foodbe nourishing but devoid of animal fat." 'Abd al-Karïm al-Jïlï (d.1423), in his commentary, explains that "animal fat strengthensanimality, and its principles will dominate the spiritual principles"(Ibn al-'Arabi: 31, 81). Ghazâlï, however, cites Muhammad's preference for tharïd, a meat stew sopped with bread, and suggests thatthe ideal meal to offer to guests should include meat (11:20).

Although Goldziher persuasively argued that much of theworldly pragmatism of Hadïth literature was a direct reactionagainst the popular appeal of Sufi asceticism in the late eighth cen

tury, this same Hadïth literature came to serve as the foundation ofIslamic law, and is fundamental to Sufi life because Sufis, morethan any other Muslims, wish to follow the model of the Prophet.Ghazâlï's multi-volume Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihyâ* 'ulümal-dïn), a guide to the average Sufi on how to live a pious life, isvery heavily based on Hadïth. Every detail of Muhammad's eatinghabits is discussed, and its application to the life of people inGhazali's day is analyzed. Manners are described in the graphicdetail typical of Islamic law books. Meals are begun and ended

with prayers and pious recitations, transforming the taking of ameal into a religious ritual when it is observed with proper etiquette. His description of proper manners in drinking is indicativeof the general tone of the book:

The correct way to drink is to take the cup with the right hand andsay, "In the name of God," and to sip, not gulp. The Messenger ofGod, peace be upon him, said, "Sip water and do not gulp it, forgulping hurts the liver." One should not drink standing up orlying down, for the Messenger of God said, "It is prohibited to

drink standing up." It is also said that [on one occasion] the Messenger of God drank standing up, but perhaps he had an excuse.One should be careful of the bottom of the cup so as not to let


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ing and not burp or breathe into it. One should remove it from hismouth with praise to God and return it to its place invoking God's

name. The Messenger of God used to say after drinking, "Praise beto God who made it sweet and fresh by His mercy and not saltyand hot by our sins" . . . . One should drink in three breaths, praising God at the end and invoking God's name at the beginning. Atthe end of the first breath one should say, "Praise be to God;" atthe end of the second, one should add, "Lord of all being;" at theend of the third, one should add, "The Compassionate, theMerciful." There are about twenty rules of etiqette concerning eating and drinking indicated by the anecdotes of the pious earlyMuslims (11:7-8).

Hadïth literature encapsulates an attitude toward eating andhospitality that reflects ancient Arabian values. Ghazâlï devotes farmore space to the virtues of offering food, and the manner to offerand receive it, than he does to the virtues of fasting. Typical amongthe many hadïths he cites are these: "There is no good in one whodoes not offer hospitality." "Among the things which expiate sinsand increase in rank are offering food and praying at night whilepeople are sleeping." When Muhammad was asked to define faith,he replied, "To offer food and give the greeting of peace." Feedingpeople and speaking a good word are equated in another hadïthwith an acceptable pilgrimage. As Ghazâlï says, there are countlessanecdotes of the early pious Muslims on the virtues of offering hospitality and feeding the poor (Ghazâlï, 11:16). Nonetheless,Suhrawardï instructed Sufis not to feed each other, or to urge eachother to eat, "except the shaykh, who may say so to those below hisrank in order to cheer them up and encourage them to overcometheir shyness" (Suhrawardï: 57).

One saying gives instructions on the appropriate way to dealwith different types of people: "If the poor (fuqarä') come to you,give them food. If scholars of the Law come to you, ask them aquestion. If Qur'an reciters come to you, lead them to the nichepointing the way to Mecca" (Ghazâlï, 11:15). While feeding thepoor is naturally meritorious, the Qur'anic term for the destitute ismiskxn, whereas faqïr (pi. fuqarä') typically means not a personwho is destitute, but one who embraces a lifestyle of poverty—aSufi. If this is what is meant in this saying—and given the context

of various categories of religious functionaries, this is plausible-then there is an actual connection between Sufis and the offeringof food which appears somewhat ironic in view of the ascetic ori


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brothers in a manner distinct from the common run of Muslims,and both Hujwïrï and Ghazâlï speak of the blessings to be obtainedfrom eating with one's Sufi brethren. Furthermore, Ghazali says,"feeding a pious man strengthens him for obedience, but feeding adepraved man strengthens him for depravity" (17).

Although Sufis of the eleventh and twelfth centuries and latercontinue to caution against the dangers of excessive eating, theyseem to be equally concerned with the dangers of excessive fastingand sleeplessness. Ibn al-'Arabi cautions disciples against bothsatiation and excessive hunger. "Keep your constitution in balance, for if dryness is excessive, it leads to corrupt imaginings and

long, delirious ravings" (31). Hujwïrï says that Abu Dharr al-Ghif-farï's wife complained to Salman al-Fârisï that her husband neitherate by day nor slept by night. Salman told her to fetch some foodand told Abu Dharr to eat, "since this fasting is not incumbent onyou." Abú Dharr complied. At night Salman begged him to sleep,saying, "your body and your wife have a claim upon you, as well asyour Lord." When Abú Dharr consulted the Prophet on the matter,he agreed with Salman. Hujwïrï comments, "Inasmuch as AbüDharr had renounced his selfish pleasures, Salman persuaded him

to gratify them." This, he says, is a sound principle: "So long asanyone perseveres in a selfish demand, his friend ought to resist it,but when he renounces it, then his friend ought to satisfy it" (344).What is dangerous to a novice in the Sufi path does not hold thesame danger for the adept.

Despite the virtues of fasting, Ghazâlï says that one should notrefuse an invitation to eat because one is fasting. "If it makes yourbrother happy for you to break your fast, you should break it, andyour reward is greater than the reward of your fast, if your inten

tion is to make your brother happy." He quotes the Prophet'syounger cousin, Ibn 'Abbäs, as saying, "One of the best good deedsis to honor those with whom you are sitting by breaking the fast.Breaking the fast with this intention is an act of worship and goodetiquette, and its reward is greater than the reward of fasting." Aguest who refuses to break a fast should be offered perfume,incense, and good conversation (18).

Qushayrï tells the story of a young man who was fasting andrefused to break his fast to eat with Abu Yazïd al-Bistâmï and twoother shaykhs, although they promised him the spiritual reward ofa month's or a year's fasting for the blessing of sharing this meal


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tual superiors caused him to fall out of God's favor, become a thief,and lose his hand, the legal punishment for theft (Qushayrï n.d.:

259). This anecdote is intended to warn disciples of the dangers ofdisobedience to their shaykh or other spiritual superiors, but italso reflects the notion that food offered by a saint carries thesaint's baraka—a spiritual force generally perceived as beneficial,though it may harm a person who fails to give a saint due respect.

In Sufi ethics, no act is of neutral value, though it may be neutral in strictly legal terms. The Sufi should consider not onlywhether a particular act is permissible, but whether it is helpful.As Hujwïrï wrote, "The seeker of God, as he walks, should know at

each step he makes whether that step is against God or of God"(349-50). Ever since Räbi'a walked through the streets of Basrawith a bucket of water and a torch, saying she wished to extinguishthe fires of Hell and burn the Garden of Paradise so the true loversof God would be revealed, Sufis have insisted that what matters isnot the act but the intention with which it is done. Whether eatingor fasting, all must be done for the sake of God alone—to use aQur'anic phrase, desiring nothing but the face of God. It is noteating that harms, but eating with the goal of satisfying one's own

desires. Suhrawardï wrote that there is a special dispensation(rukhsa) for a Sufi to eat tasty food, but only between periods ofhunger and exertion (77). He even wrote that there is a specialdispensation to "plunder the food which is scattered at banquets.One should, however, do so without gluttony and with the intention of delighting the host. A Hadïth quotes the Prophet as saying:Ί only forbade you to plunder armies but I did not forbid you toplunder banquets' " (81).

The Shâdhiliyya, a Sufi Order that follows the teachings of theNorth African Sufi, Abu ΊHasan al-Shâdhilï (d. 1258), was originally a middle-class Order that departed from earlier tradition byencouraging its followers to work for a living and dress well ratherthan (at times hypocritically) advertising their poverty. Shâdhilïintepreted poverty in a spiritual sense, allowing a person to be"poor toward God," i.e., recognizing his need for God, withoutrenunciation of all material things. Later Sufis in the eastern partof the Muslim world likewise often felt that "the soul-dog is better

when its mouth is shut by throwing a morsel into it" (Schimmel:117).


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Hoffman Eating and Fasting for God in Sufi Tradition 477

SUFISM AND FOOD IN MODERN EGYPT

Sufism developed gradually from a movement of extreme asceticism to a movement of broad social appeal with an increasinglypragmatic attitude toward the practice of basic Sufi disciplines anddevotions within the context of everyday life. Very few studies havebeen done of modern Sufism, which is generally regarded as a degradation of the earlier, "pure" Sufism of the eighth through twelfthcenturies. However, my fieldwork among Sufis in contemporaryEgypt1 reveals some very interesting aspects of the role that foodplays in Sufi life in that country today.

Any equation of modern Egyptian Sufism with asceticism islikely to prompt cynical laughter from anyone acquainted with thesocial reality of today's Sufis. Today the majority of Sufis work,and although Sufism continues to draw primarily from the lowerclasses, many Sufis have prominent positions in society and arequite wealthy. Most contemporary Egyptian Sufi Orders follow thephilosophy of the Shädhiliyya and permit, even encourage, the pursuit of a livelihood in the job market. As one well-known writersaid, "This world is an opportunity for worship. . . The Sufi works

only that he may worship in everything he does, including workingfor a living" (Nawfal: 73). Another Sufi emphasizes that renunciation of the world occurs in the heart, not "with the hand," and thatphysical renunciation of the world is useless if love for the things ofthe world remains in the heart (Mähir: 21). One modern SufiOrder in Egypt insists that seclusion should be "of the heart, notthe body," and their charter says, "Much fasting and hunger andmuch sleeplessness and dhikr 2 will lead to dullness of the brainand will create mental illness or disturbance in mind" (Gilsenan:

120).Sufis who dress in colorful rags, shun regular employment, andlive off the charity of others, may still be seen at the celebrations ofsaints' days (mouïids), but their lifestyle is not highly regarded evenin most Sufi circles. They epitomize the "dervishism" that many

ll conducted my fieldwork among the Sufis of Egypt from October 1987 through April1989 The first year of fieldwork was funded by a grant from Fulbnght's Islamic Civilizationprogram My book, Sufism, Mystics and Saints in Modern Egypt, is forthcoming with the

University of South Carolina Press It is being published in October 19952 Dhikr literally means "remembrance" or "recollection " It is a ritual of recollection ofsome of the Most Beautiful Names of God, accompanied by movements, and possibly breath


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Sufis feel has given Sufism a bad name with today's educated middle class. Many Sufi shaykhs, however, neither live off the charity

of others nor work for a living. As Ahmad Radwän of Luxor (d.1967) said, "Some people have cut off all means of subsistence andtheir Lord has been their guarantor and has not left them to anyoneelse. I am among these" (238).

Sufis insist that self-denial and crushing the passions are anintegral part of the Sufi path, even today. But rather than grievingover their sins and denying themselves all pleasures, as the earlySufis did, Sufis today in Egypt appear to delight in the assurance oftheir relationship with God, and enjoy this relationship while func

tioning quite normally in the world. Rather than embracing hunger, Egyptian Sufis make the serving of food central to theirdevotional life. Hospitality has long been a prominent feature ofSufi life since the founding of Sufi retreat centers—at least as earlyas the eleventh century—that regularly welcomed traveling Sufis.This custom continues in Egypt today, where Sufi shaykhs or otherindividuals establish what in Egypt are called sähas, centers forSufi devotion, spiritual retreats, and hospitality. The importanceof hospitality is evident in the size of the tables built in concreteinto the courtyard of some söhas, sometimes able to accommodatea hundred diners at one sitting.

In Egypt today, Sufi hospitality and devotion often revolvearound the attendance of moulids—saint's day celebrations. Mou-lids celebrate the anniversary of the death of a saint, who can beany man, woman or child thought to be particularly close to God.The tombs of saints become shrines where pilgrims implore theintercession of the saint or, more Islamically proper, implore God

by virtue of the baraka of the saint, for healing, the redress ofwrongs, help with exams, or simply for favor with God. There arethousands of saints' tombs in Egypt, and moulids are celebratedonce a year at many of them. Not all saints are of equal importance, however, and the largest and most important moulids arethose celebrated in honor of members of the Prophet's family whoare buried in Egypt, as well as the great founders of major SufiOrders. The major moulids, like those of Husayn, the Prophet'sgrandson, Sayyida Zaynab, the Prophet's granddaughter, 'Ali Zayn

al-'Äbidm, the Prophet's great grandson, Sayyida Nafïsa, a great-great-great-great granddaughter of the Prophet, Ahmad al-Badawi(d 1276) f d f h Ah di O d Ah d l Rifâ'ï (d


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teenth-century saint, and other great saints, are massive popularnocturnal carnivals attracting as many as a million or more visitors, many of them traveling long distances. The celebration may

last as long as two or three weeks, with ever more activity buildingto a fever pitch on the last, "great night." People come to the moulids to visit the tomb of the saint, partake of the baraka of the mou-lid, and perhaps to enjoy the many pleasures set up by merchantsfor the moulids: booths selling special toys, mini amusementparks, shooting games, roasted chick-peas, and the like. Some ofthe moulids, like that of Ahmad al-Badawi in the town of Tanta inthe Delta, have become such economic affairs that their religioussignificance becomes obscured by the secular pursuits.

For the Sufis, who consider themselves distinct from other Muslims by their devotion to the Prophet and his family, honoring themajor saints or lesser saints with whom one has a spiritual relationship by attending their moulids is both a spiritual duty andvital to their spiritual life. Many of them set up hospitality stations(khidma, pi. khidamät) in large canopied tents or simply on a clothspread out on the sidewalk, or in rented rooms in schools or otherpublic buildings. Even if they live in town, they may camp out asclose to the shrine as they are able, sleeping on the pavement for aweek or more, in order to honor the saint, perform the Sufi ritual ofdhikr, and offer hospitality to passers-by. Visitors are invited toreceive at least a drink, and often a meal as well. Such gifts, callednafha, a term which means both "gift" and "fragrance," convey thebaraka of the saint to the one who receives them, and may not berefused.

Many poor people gravitate to the moulids to take advantage ofthe abundance of charity, and the eager rush of the crowd to a

large table where dinner had just been prepared at one khidma ledthe shaykh whom I accompanied to joke, "The essence of Sufism isfood." But those who are wealthy likewise are eager to eat at themoulids, because it is not the quality of the food that makes itdesirable, but the fact that it is offered at the moulid and bears thebaraka of the saint.

Moulids are a time of great sociability for the Sufis, who oftenwander from one khidma to the next, greeting their "brethren" andoften partaking of food with them. Since the moulids are typically

all-night celebrations, they are physically demanding on those wholive a lifestyle of following the circuit of the major moulids. The

l h d h i li i hi i


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pensation for their gifts, which are all given "for the face of God" or"out of love for the ahi aVbayt (the family of the Prophet)." The

offering of hospitality, especially food and drink, which is so fundamental to traditional Arab culture, has been elevated to the status of a sacred act. It is an act of piety that has come to define theSufi lifestyle for many.

Ahmad Radwän of Luxor (d. 1967), a charismatic mystic who isone of the most intriguing figures in twentieth-century Sufism, issaid to have cared nothing for his own sustenance, and happilywent without food for days at a time. Hundreds came to his säha toeat, drink, sleep, and bask in the aura of holiness. "The people

knew no one equal to him in generosity in his day, and they foundno one equal to him in this. . . . He turned no beggar away. He gavelike one who has no fear of poverty, from all the wealth, food orclothing that God gave him, so that visitors left dazed by meetinghim and by his generosity" (Radwan: 12). This description is similar to an account from the life of the Prophet, who, it is said, gaveso generously even to the most rude and demanding of people, thatone recipient of his generosity urged his countrymen to becomeMuslims, "for Muhammad gives like one who has no fear of pov

erty" (Jeffery: 29).Nonetheless, the norms of Egyptian hospitality may conflict at

times with the dictates of the Prophet, as one anecdote aboutRadwän illustrates. It is said that on one occasion he sent awaylarge numbers of visitors from his säha without feeding them,because, looking into their hearts with the insight of mysticalknowledge, he saw that they did not meet the stipulations set bythe Prophet, who said, "Do not befriend any one except a believer,and do not let any one eat your food except a pious person." OneSufi, writing of this incident said, "This caused some people tooppose him and say that Ahmad Radwan throws people out of hisassembly and is harsh with some of those who come to him. Ifthose opponents had looked into the Book of God and understoodwhat is in it, they would know that this is a Muhammadan ethic,and is the practical application of the Book of God and Sunna ofHis Apostle" (Mähir: 174). Another version of this story indicatesan interesting struggle between his spiritual state (which can overcome rational thought) and the standards of hospitality dictatedby Egyptian culture: Radwan ordered his sons not to feed somevisitors saying "Away from me! You come only to eat!" Later he


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chagrined to learn that they had not been offered any hospitality.But when food was again set before them, his former state returnedto him and the food was ordered removed before the visitors could

eat it.Although food may be offered either by a spiritual superior or

by a person of lower spiritual rank to a spiritual superior, themeaning of the offering of food is interpreted according to thelarger context. Any food offered at a moulid carries the baraka ofthe saint in whose name it is offered. When a shaykh offers food,he is offering his own baraka, and blessing is conveyed to the person who eats. A devoted follower of a shaykh may even wish to eatthe shaykh's leftovers, or drink from the shaykh's cup. When a

shaykh accepts an invitation to eat at somebody's home, he bringsbaraka to the house when he enters, and he honors the host bypartaking of his food. Hierarchy and submission are expressednot by the mere act of offering food, but by the dispensation andreceiving of blessing.

The symbolism of drinking, especially of milk, is evident in thelanguage of the Sufis itself. The spiritual lineage or source ofteaching that one follows is popularly called one's mashrab— liter

ally, the place where one drinks. Picturing one's shaykh as amother from whom one nurses and derives spiritual nourishmentis a traditional image that continues to be occasionally employed,as when Shaykh Ahmad Abü'l-Hasan (d. 1994) described his disci-pleship with Ahmad Radwän: "I stayed with the shaykh, drawingnourishment from his milk and being illuminated by his lights,until he met the Highest Companion. . . . After the shaykh's passing, I felt as if I were an orphan. . . . "

Images of food and drink likewise figure in the visionary exper

iences that play such an important role in the lives of modernEgyptian Sufis. Shaykh Ίζζ al-Hawäri, a living shaykh, considershimself the direct disciple of Abu ΊHasan al-Shädhili, who died in1258, because, in a vision when he was still young, Shädhili tookhim on his lap and gave him a glass of milk, which signified spiritual adoption, and Shädhili has continued to instruct him throughvisions. Ahmad Radwän also one time had a vision of the Prophetin which he was given a glass of milk, indicating perhaps the transfer of spiritual knowledge and power, and when he woke up, the

glass of milk was still in his hand.Even more extraordinary is an elaborate vision of Shaykh


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an enormous following in Egypt. In this vision, Muhammad'Uthmän receives his coronation as ghawth—or, the term more typi

cally used in Sufi tradition, the qutb—"Axis" of the Age, the topsaint in the Sufi saintly hierarchy, the agent through whom allblessings and spiritual gifts are bestowed on the earth. In thisvision, he was invited to a great banquet attended by all theprophets and saints throughout the ages, as well as all his futuredisciples, an immense crowd of millions. There he was commanded to eat all of the food on the table. It was a great table filledwith vegetables stuffed with the seven minerals. The meaning ofthis, explains his lieutenant in Egypt, Shaykh Gamäl al-Sanhüri, "is

that the head must comprehend all that is in his kingdom."Despite the very moderate attitude of many modern Sufis

toward fasting, there are a few who practice it in an extreme fashion. Shaykh Muhammad al-Tayyib (d. 1988), an old Sufi who livedin Qurna, across the Nile from Luxor, was widely regarded in theregion as the ghawth of his day. His daily diet was restricted to afew tablespoons of milk a day, and his body weakened to the pointthat he could no longer support himself, and his skin was so delicate that he covered it with his sleeve before shaking the hands of

visitors. His poor diet undoubtedly directly contributed to hisdeath, but some Sufis considered his lifestyle appropriate for aman of his age and spiritual seniority. They spoke with admiration of the fact that his bowel movements were so minimal as to bealmost non-existent. This indicated that the material dimension ofhis body was diminishing, and he was becoming more "luminous,"a metaphor for spirituality. His severe fasts, then, were a preparation for death. A body that is virtually immaterial and luminouscannot decay, for light is incorruptible—and the incorruptibility of

the body is one of the characteristics of saints, whose exhumationsafter many years often bring testimony that they are not really deadbut merely "sleeping" in their tombs.

In Sufi tradition, then, eating and drinking are never neutralacts. Eating to satisfy one's appetites leaves one open to Satanicinsinuation, but eating for the sake of God can strengthen one forworship. Fasting is a tool for training and subduing the soul, opening the spirit to God, and even, in modern Egypt, for reducing themateriality of the body. But eating and drinking can also be sacred

acts, conveying spiritual power and blessing, or symbolizing spiritual adoption and discipleship, and the offering of food is elevated


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REFERENCES

Attâr, Farïd al-Din. Muslim Saints and Mystics. Trans, by A. J. Arberry.

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Ghazâlï, Abu Ihyâ' 'ulüm al-dïn. 4 vols. Cairo: Mu'assasat al-Hâmid al-. Halabi and Co.

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Gilsenan, Michael. Saint and Sufi in Modern Egypt: An Essay in the Soci-

1973 ology of Religion. Oxford: Clarenden Press.

Goldziher, Ignaz. Introduction to Islamic Theology and Law. Trans, by

1981 Andras Hamori and Ruth Hamori. Princeton:Princeton University Press.

Haykal, The Life of Muhammad. Trans, by Ismail Ragi A. alMuhammad Faruqi. N.p.: North American Trust Publications.

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Hujwïrï, 'Ali ibn Kashf al-Mahjüb of Al Hujwïrï. Trans, by Reynold

'Uthman al-Jullâbï A. Nicholson. E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Series vol.al-. XVII. London: Luzac & Co.1911

Ibn al-Arabi, Journey to the Lord of Power: A Sufi Manual onMuhyiddïn. Retreat. Trans, by Rabia Terri Harris. New York:

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Jeffery, Arthur, ed. Islam: Muhammad and His Religion. Indianapolis

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Mâhir, Farïd. Karamät al-awliyä\ Cairo: Al-Matba'a Ί'älimiyya.1971

Nawfal, Abd al- Al-Tasawwuf wa Ίtar ïq ilayhi. Cairo: Al-Sha'b.Räziq.

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Qushayrï, Abu Ί Al-Risäla Ίqushayriyya f\ 'Um altasawwuf Cairo:Qäsim al-. Muhammad 'Ali Subayh wa awlädihi.

n.d.1990 Principles of Sufism. Trans, by Β. R. von Schlegell.


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Radwän, Ahmad. Al-Nafahät al-rabbäniyya. 3rd ed. Kom Ombo:1986 Yüsufja'lüs.

Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam. Chapel Hill, NC: Uni-Annemarie, versity of North Carolina Press.

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Smith, Margaret. Al-Ghazâlï the Mystic. Oxford: Oxford University1944 Press.

Suhrawardï, Abu A Sufi Rule for Novices: Kitab Ädäb al-Murïdïn.al-Najib Abd al- Trans, by Menahem Milson. Cambridge, MA:

Qâdir. Harvard University Press.1975

Watt, W. Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman. New York:Montgomery Oxford University Press.

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Williams, John The Word of Islam. Austin: University of TexasAlden, ed. Press.

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